A British Airways plane struck an object, supposedly a drone yesterday while the plane was coming in for landing at Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, police said. "A pilot on an inbound flight into Heathrow Airport from Geneva reported to police that he believed a drone had struck the aircraft," a spokeswoman for London's Metropolitan Police said. "The flight landed at Heathrow Terminal Five safely. It transpired that an object, believed to be a drone, had struck the front of the aircraft".
A BA spokesman said the plane had been fully examined after landing and was cleared to operate its next flight.British media reporting an object—possibly a drone—struck #BA727 prior to landing. https://t.co/M04NikNvLM pic.twitter.com/4heJfLy8ya
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) April 17, 2016
The plane had been flying with 132 passengers and five crew on board. Several near-misses involving drones have been reported at British airports in recent years, including one on July 22, 2014 which came close to an Airbus A320 passenger jet at London Heathrow.ALERT British Airways A320 G-EUYP 'hit by drone' at 11:31 today @Heathrowcam https://t.co/9vFGyCrDKY pic.twitter.com/VzTFeg9R56 - @NewsHazbail
— AIRLIVE (@airlivenet) April 17, 2016